‘Survivor: Cagayan’ interview: Spencer Bledsoe on popularity, Tony rivalry, future plans

As we start to near the end of our “Survivor: Cagayan” interview series, we’re pleased to share what may be one of our favorite chats of the entire season. Spencer Bledsoe was great on the show since you could tell that he loved it, and was always fighting to make it another three days. In this interview, it was great because he brought all of the insight and was really able to look at his experience objectively.

Speaking to us last week after the finale, Spencer opened up about his now-famous final tribal council speech, his closest allies in the game, his friendship with Tony Vlachos outside of the game, and also how being on the show changed how he sees former players he once idolized.

CarterMatt – Did you ever expect going into this game that you were going to be so popular, or have so many people cheering for you at the finale?

Spencer Bledsoe – It has been a mixed bag of emotions ever since the live show. It was crazy to see people cheer for me and rooting for me the way that they were. I was very cool to see, and very unexpected in a nice way.

I want to go back to the pre-show videos, since in watching those you came across as very cocky; but, you ended up playing a very different game. Did everything change in the game, or was that a sort of audition character you were playing?

The biggest thing was that there was no way I could be cocky or arrogant, because except for maybe three votes, I was always on the bottom. And you’re never going to be like ‘I’m running the show’ when you’re on the bottom. That makes no sense.

I honestly do not know how I would have come across had it not played out this way, and had I been in control. For all I know, the way that it happened may have been the best. Maybe that was my best shot at winning, with the circumstances that got me to the final four.

It’s always hard to know [what would happen], especially when you arrive the first day and the tribes are what they are…

Yeah, which I was happy about to be honest. My biggest concern going in was that I didn’t want to be the Cochran around all these people and stick out like a sore thumb or some ‘nerdy kid who likes the show, we gotta get rid of him.’ So to be surrounded by Brains, even though the twist didn’t work in most of their favor, it kind of worked for me. It made me fit in more than I would have otherwise, and fitting in is one of the most important things at the beginning of ‘Survivor.’

Were you worried about being a target especially given that the last thing you guys saw was Cochran winning? Did you try to tone down your love of the show?

I definitely wanted to play down being a superfan, because Cochran’s win was fresh in our memory and we hadn’t seen ‘Blood vs. Water’ when we went out to film.

Everyone is cast for a reason, and [over time] you start to figure out why everyone was cast. I was angling more for the student, well-educated who likes the show who is a fan, but not necessarily a superfan. It didn’t really work that well, I think it kind of came through after a while. But in the beginning I was really aware of that.

So when there was the tribal swap and the [people on the beauty tribe] were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, was that one of the few times you started to feel safe?

Yeah, that was a stroke of good luck. I don’t think it could have possibly worked out better to be put with the two people that I know, and then four people who will not work together. It was like we couldn’t be voted out. We were almost guaranteed to make the merge after that swap because those four would not work together. They all had beef with each other, personal beef.

In some of the past interviews that I’ve done, I’ve heard time and time again that it was actually more you and Jeremiah, or Jeremy as Tony calls him, who were close more so than you and Tasha. Who was actually your #1 ally out there?

Honestly, it depended on the time of the game. There was a point when Tasha and Kass were really close, and Jeremiah and I got really close. I felt like we trusted each other, because there was a point on the Brains where it was Tasha and Kass, and I was on the bottom. With Jeremiah, I really needed him, and he really needed me.

But when Jeremiah got voted out, I was really tight with Tasha and I always liked Tasha as a person. She’s an awesome player. It’s hard to say any one person.

Even though you and Tony were sometimes at odds, he would come to you at times in the game with plans. How did you keep those dialogues open while still being in opposition?

We had an interesting relationship because I think we both were very threatened by the other. I was more threatened by him than he was by me, because frankly he was a better player than I was. But I think we were both threatened by each other to a degree, and I think we had a lot of respect for each other. He’s a great guy and we’re good friends now. In the game, I was always trying to get him out. I would work with him when it was my only option, but my top priority was to get him out because it felt as if he was the strategic force on the other side keeping me and Tash and Jeremiah from getting something together all of the time.

That said, he was a strategic force, but he couldn’t have done it without people like Trish. She was the one who had relationships, and she would put into [action] strategies that they wanted to do … I wasn’t trying to make it sound like it was Tony who was entirely running the show.

Everybody’s had some crazy nicknames this season. You’ve got Chaos Kass, Tony’s got about a billion catchphrases. Have you been approached on the street yet as Young Lad?

No, I have not been approached yet as Young Lad! I’m still waiting for it.

Is it easier for you as a fan of the game to have so much fun with it after the fact, like with all the interviews, the trash-talking with Tony on Twitter?

Yeah, I love the show and you can’t not have fun with it. And the trash-talk with Tony on Twitter is all fun and games. We have that kind of poking-at-each-other relationship.

We hear so much about how jurors almost always have their mind made up before going to the final tribal council. So do you think your speech actually changed anyone’s mind?

I’ve been talking to people, and it may have swayed one or two. But I don’t think it had a huge impact. I would not say that it changed the results of the final vote.

Looking towards the future, you’re a smart guy and you’re obviously well-aware that there’s a contingent of people who want you to play again. Obviously I don’t want you to divulge what your strategy would be, but do you feel like you would have to approach the game different a second time?

Yes. I think the biggest thing I would do is rely more on my instincts. I said a little bit of this at the live show, but it would be really important that I don’t get caught up in my head, and get a little more instinctive and aggressive in [taking advantage of opportunities] before they pass.

How weird is it going to be for you watching the show now that you’ve been through it?

It’s going to be weird, and watching the show I had this mystique around people and it’s kind of gone now. It’s a little bit sad. I don’t view them the same way. When I was a sophomore in college watching John Cochran play for the first time, a guy I related to probably more than almost anyone else that had been cast, that was really cool for me. And then meeting Cochran now is a very weird experience. It’s very cool obviously, but it’s different.

I’m obviously a big fan of ‘Survivor’ until the end, but I will definitely see it differently.